Armed with rakes, shovels and cleaning supplies, more than 1,300 Truman students spread a day of volunteering throughout the Kirksville community Saturday as part of the annual Big Event.

The students assisted local residents with household chores and projects like raking leaves, cleaning yards, painting and washing windows as well as picking up trash from city streets during the day of service aimed at giving back to the local community.

Starting Saturday morning, the thousands of students visited about 150 service sites. Most of the sites were residences where a request had been filed ahead of the event.

“It’s a really nice thing for the Truman community to give back to the Kirksville community for being supportive of our institution in Kirksville and a really great opportunity to meet people you wouldn’t normally interact with,” said Matt Kennedy, program adviser for service and leadership with the Center for Student Involvement.

Saturday’s forecast gave organizers some concern but with snow holding off, the service projects, which also included a local church’s Easter preparations, help create a shared bond between the Kirksville and Truman communities.

“It’s about the number of opportunities for Truman students in the community and the inviting nature of community and being excited about having students here and being able to share in that,” he said.